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Anyone else been told not to say "Merry Christmas"?

Hi Guys,

Just a short rant really..... I got told today that I am not supposed to say Merry Christmas anymore in case it offends others of a different faith........ My response was B$%^&*^"£.......

Not being silly though A). I'm technically of no faith so do I still get counted..... & B). ?????????? What is going on. The woman said I should be more aware of different religions and say "Seasons Greetings" instead, so as not to offend anyone who doesn't believe in Christmas? Anyone else been told this..... apparently I've been unknowingly insensitive to many people recently (and TBh if one of those people got upset, I'm not actually bothered...). But I was peterbed to be told this.

Tom

My Aunty Hilda was like a sea mine.... she was in the war and she gave sailors a few shocks!

I have not received instructions one way or the other so I default to Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas, depending on the circumstance.

Considering the slew of holidays, religious and otherwise, that occur this time of the year, is it really a big of a deal? Happy Holidays makes more sense anyway since typically people don't wish someone a pleasant particular holiday except on the actual day of the holiday.

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. - Robert A. Heinlein

I've never been told one way or the other, and it wouldn't matter if I was.

too many people get their undies in a wad over this...

I say Merry Christmas. You can't stop me. I'm not being malicious. If you're offended by something that isn't offensive, tough. Grow a spine.

You're wishing someone the best of the holiday you celebrate, if your well wishes, based on your beliefs and your honest desire for someone to have a great holiday bothers someone, well then it should!

I'm not saying go out and say whatever you can think of to tick people off and come up with some excuse, but ........

In the UK we do though, I at least along with many others say Merry Christmas from quite early in December, until Christmas day, in the US I know Christmas is not as big as thanksgiving (or at least it used not to be a few years ago....). But I just feel agrieved at being told what to say....

Tom

My Aunty Hilda was like a sea mine.... she was in the war and she gave sailors a few shocks!

I've never been told one way or the other, and it wouldn't matter if I was.

too many people get their undies in a wad over this...

I say Merry Christmas. You can't stop me. I'm not being malicious. If you're offended by something that isn't offensive, tough. Grow a spine.

You're wishing someone the best of the holiday you celebrate, if your well wishes, based on your beliefs and your honest desire for someone to have a great holiday bothers someone, well then it should!

I'm not saying go out and say whatever you can think of to tick people off and come up with some excuse, but ........

I better stop.

Merry Christmas!

:D It's not like I'm wandering into the local Temple or Mosque and saying it... It's just a general response, for 99% of the year I'm as grumpy as you can get, but I like to try to be nice at this time of year (perhaps having christmas and Birthday within 5 days has something to do with it :D LOL).

Tom :D

My Aunty Hilda was like a sea mine.... she was in the war and she gave sailors a few shocks!

Just a short rant really..... I got told today that I am not supposed to say Merry Christmas anymore in case it offends others of a different faith........ My response was B$%^&*^"£.......

Not being silly though A). I'm technically of no faith so do I still get counted..... & B). ?????????? What is going on. The woman said I should be more aware of different religions and say "Seasons Greetings" instead, so as not to offend anyone who doesn't believe in Christmas? Anyone else been told this..... apparently I've been unknowingly insensitive to many people recently (and TBh if one of those people got upset, I'm not actually bothered...). But I was peterbed to be told this.

Tom

If you ask me it's simply ridiculous. If someone wished me "Happy Eid" or "Happy Hanukkah" I wouldn't take offense!
Here in France it's not uncommon to hear "Inshallah" in the mouth of people that are not Muslims and no-one is shocked.

It's unhappy to say but that's what you get when some minorities uphold their ideals against common sense.

It is pretty ridiculous. I'm also of "no faith", but I still like wishing people a merry Christmas, when I worked in retail, I would bust out "Merry Christmas and happy holidays" to be safe.

To me Christmas has always been a time for friends, family and goodwill towards others, regardless of faith. I'd even argue that the whole Christmas season has become so commercialized and secularized that "merry christmas" is hardly even a Christian greeting anymore. Even if it is, people need to loosen up, it's a gesture of goodwill, not an attempt to evangelize.

To put it in perspective; often, if I post something on a board like this one about something bad that has happened to me, or my family, people pretty much always respond that they will pray for me, or we are in their prayers. I'm an atheist, but I see the gesture from their perspective as one of caring and compassion and appreciate it, even if it doesn't fit in line with my beliefs.

So from the bottom of my heart; Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! (or good morning as the case may be)

-Jordan
The world needs more humble geniuses, there are so few of us left.

When I worked for a certain mobile phone company several years ago, we were told to say, and I quote, "Happy Chrismahanukwanzakah." That's right. I guess the idea was to offend everyone equally while sounding like a rediculous tool at the same time.

I think I will design some Thnkscrimboweekwanukkah Cards for next year.

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. - Robert A. Heinlein

I usually say Happy Holidays if I don't know the person, just because I'm a people pleaser and try to be sensitive to peoples' hangups if it makes no difference to me. If I have some knowledge of the specific holiday that the person I'm addressing celebrates, then I'll use that instead.

I do agree, however that people should lighten up, especially the righteous person that corrected the OP.

We should all be celebrating Festivus anyway! Who's up for some feats of strength?

Yes been told this many times.. I work in PG county MD and should I say *gasp* people complain all the time especially throwing out the "racial slurs card" all the time.. Do I complain nope I just brush it off lifes to short to worry about what others say or think /rant

I usually say either... they're interchangeable, as far as I'm concerned. Christmas is a holiday in the US, regardless of your religion. Not everybody celebrates it, but it's there. If someone were to say happy Hanukkah, I wouldn't be offended. In fact, there were a few people in college that said it to me quite often... turns out they thought I was jewish too, and were wondering why they never saw me at any of the Hillel events

Truth be told, I'm not into Christmas very much. I don't practice religion (whatever that means), and without that, the season has lost a lot of the meaning it had for me when I was younger. (In fact, I seem to recall a time when people were upset about the over use of Christmas for commercial purposes...) . But, when someone says "Merry Christmas" to me, I take it as a genuine gesture of well wishing... not some sort of audial club with which to beat me into submission. I would suggest that those that do get offended propbably do use the term in such a way... which isn't very Christian of them. Or maybe it is?

Unfortunately, I kind of tend to be an ass about it myself. If I know someone is going to get offended, I'll offer a "Happy Holidays" response to a Merry Christmas I'm a bad person, I know.